Lifeafterballet

Our Dd graduated from her vocational school last year with as you very eloquently put it, a pitiful graduation 😞 The school offer a graduate placement program, the students can stay for a further year as staff, no fees, but perform a role within the school in exchange for ballet classes. They get no summer show or graduation this year either 😢 After now nine years of training how can this be ? I feel very sad for this years and last years graduates 😭 I just wish there was a bit more realism and honesty and then support available for those who wish to/ or have too pursue different pathway. The past year and this has been unprecedented. But they are the forgotten generation/graduates 😢

Just stumbled across this post and it really struck a chord with me 👏 https://ibb.co/QcSmFQF

I am sad to see only two British ballet school graduates in the joiners this year 😢 With very limited opportunities in the EU/US etc in 2020/21 I had hoped for a little more home success. But I guess Covid and finances play a part in this again. I see there are a few more temporary opportunities with the company for U.K. dancers this year though. Anyway, my congratulations to all of them 👏

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Claudia Dean Kitri Dusty Long sleeved leotard Size adults petite, excellent condition worn a couple of times for photos, £25 only as stitching repair required at the front following a very good back bend 🤣 see picture x https://ibb.co/kx2sJXg https://ibb.co/KzKg3wZ https://ibb.co/vXQ569M

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Beautiful Wear Moi XS filigree white skirted leotard. Excellent condition. £25 including delivery.

Hi Mods, ooops wrong section, please could you move this post. Thank you x

Eleve XS, navy mesh with flower body. Never worn. £40 inc delivery.

Now sold ☺️

Hi, yes x

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Anyone starting the JEP on zoom, can collect from the southwest, I still have available a lovely ballet barre. Open to offers ☺️ the barre” home ballet barre. 2 metres long, adjustable height. Cream coloured. Very sturdy and in excellent condition. Only used during holidays, barely though 🤣, and during lockdown. £130. Too heavy to post so for collection only. Cornwall/Devon border. https://ibb.co/T1hpT4d https://ibb.co/zPDq2JM https://ibb.co/PCdyTYS

Congratulations to all those who have an offer today 👏 And if you didn’t then don’t worry there are lots of fantastic opportunities out there 😀 I’ve just had a Facebook memory pop up from exactly 10 years ago today when Dd was offered a year 6 JA place. There had been 24 year 5 girls at the audition and they selected just 2. In the mixed age class there had been lots of girls who had completed all 3 years of JA training. Only 3, two boys and Dd went onto WL and Elmhurst and two of them started in year 6. Others went onto other vocational schools/training too ☺️ I think if Dd had done all 3 years of JAs she may have tired of it and in my opinion I think RBS get a bit bored. They like something shiny and new too. Dd enjoyed her JA and Elmhurst classes but I’m glad we only did the one year 😅 Enjoy your happy children 👏🍾🥂

I’m so sad for you 😢 I think a lot of vocational schools end of the year plans have been dashed by yesterday’s announcement. My Dd had an awful zoom graduation ceremony last year. It’s not really how you want their final days at school to end 😢 And the job opportunities are dire too, especially for girls. I’d like to believe that things can only get better but I’m sadly pessimistic. The legacy of Covid will live on and on ☹️

With great difficulty, but we managed it. We live in Cornwall and Ds did associate class on a Saturday at Elmhurst for 2 years. It was a whole day out 😅 He was years 10 and 11. Then he started 4 A levels and did SAs in Covent Garden for a year before successfully auditioning for vocational school. He did ballet 3 times a week locally but did not do any other forms of dance. He felt he didn’t need too. He performed with Matthew Bourne and Brb before graduating with a classical contract. He has A/A* GCSEs and 2 A levels and 3 As levels. Only doing ballet didn’t hold him back. He can’t tap to save his life 🤣 He also did English Schools and club cross country and athletics and county, club and school rugby. That’s probably the trick. Streamlining the activities 🤔 Dd only did ballet too before going at 11 but lots of other sports. I think you just have to be very organised and if they love what they are doing it’s so much easier. Personally for us Dd would have been happier had she had a normal lower school experience and did associates etc like her brother. I watched the lights go out in her eyes at the end of year 11 😢 The passion and happiness sucked out, you can see why bright eyed, fresh and keen non vocational dancers compete very successfully for upper school places.

I totally agree !! There are so many fantastic teachers and opportunities out there which I find are restricted when attending lower school. Years 7 to 11 cost us in excess of £60,000 and that was with an MDS. Think of all the fantastic summer intensives etc Dd could have attended for that 🤔🤣

Upper school is 16 plus. 6:1,6:2 and 6:3. Lower school is years 7 to 11 x

When Ds/Dd were at ballet school there were assessing out assessments in years 9 and 11. Some left by their own choice at other times and there were one or two taken in at every year group, apart from year 11. The school I believe now tries to keep the students for the whole of lower school but I guess there is still a chance to gain a place. Having experienced lower school and upper school verses just upper school I would advise that if you can access a good associate program and intensives along side local training then I would opt for that and try for upper schools only. In my experience there is just as much success from those who only did upper school as those who did the whole 8 years.

This is what Ds and I felt on our visits too ☺️

Naomi Osaka and fellow sports stars who've opened up about mental health struggles http://news.sky.com/story/naomi-osaka-and-fellow-sports-stars-whove-opened-up-about-mental-health-struggles-12322040 I found reading this very sad reading 😢

Just to add that my husband went to a secondary modern school and played rugby at colts level for a premiership rugby club and he was the exception in among the grammar school boys. Both our sons went for rugby trials for Cornwall after training at the academy but the selected boys for the team were mostly from the private school in Truro. There was the odd exceptionally talented child from the comprehensive that slipped in but this was a rarity. I feel that Tyrone Singleton is one of them.

In our experience I think that all the upper schools can turn out students that are very talented classical ballet dancers but unlike RBS they don’t have the name behind them to get them into the audition room or the connections that RBS’s AD/ballet staff have with companies. A lot of students are out there job hunting on their own 😢 They can be just as good but won’t get considered or get that break because of the school on their cv. There is a huge world or difference between men and women too. Some may disagree but this is our experience.

Schools tend to use their “affiliation” with certain companies as a way of attracting students. But if you actually research how many students are offered contracts you can count them on one hand 😞 Don’t be taken in by the glossy magazine. I follow Tring on social media, don’t know why really 🤣 but a couple of weeks ago they posted a congratulations to a graduate student who had completed their performing arts course and A levels and had secured a place at University to study I think it was Geography. I was very impressed by this. It’s the first time I’ve seen a school say well done to a student who seeks another path. They appear, correct me if I’m wrong, to celebrate all their graduates, even if they choose another career, not miss them off the list as I’ve seen others sadly do 😢 I’m my opinion, that means a lot x

Ds was offered an unfunded place for 6th form at Tring. We visited the school 3 times. We both really loved the atmosphere/ vibe and the academic side of it. Having experienced a ballet lower school I felt it was a more diverse environment that was less intense and more “normal” I can’t think of another way of describing it ! It would have really suited him but we couldn’t afford it. Whereas Dd flatly refused to go to the audition for 6th form as she felt it wasn’t classical enough for her and although she enjoyed other forms of dance it wasn’t what she truly wanted to do. I myself love the mixture of courses and students ☺️